Reclining Nude

This drawing was done from a live model that posed daily for a few hours every day for 4 weeks.
I drew this during my first year at my art school, Georgetown Atelier in Seattle.
I worked on this drawing after finishing a long term drawing of a cast, which taught me to notice and observe subtle value shifts across form and taught me the characteristic way light describes form via core shadow, cast shadows, reflected light, light area and highlights.

Drawing this, much like any other figure drawing project felt like sculpting a figure rather than rendering it. I enjoy looking for how volumes created by muscle, fat and bone resolve in space, by which I mean, what they connect to or meld into, how gentle or sharp of a transition and which direction a volume is facing.
I looked for the structure first and the volume second and have had the guided assistance and input of my instructor at the time, Tenaya sims.